The guard had changed well before Carlos Alcaraz took Novak Djokovic to the woodshed at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday with a 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 straight sets semifinal victory in which romance and drama both played second racquet to reality.

At age 38, Djokovic is the third-best player in the world after advancing to the semifinals in all four Grand Slams this year. There probably isn’t a fourth that would be in his league. His results this year have bolstered a résumé that glitters in gold.

The problem: Djokovic did not win even a single set in any — and all — of these final fours. He retired with a leg issue after dropping a first-set tiebreak to Alexander Zverev at Australia before he was wiped out by Jannik Sinner at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon and then by Alcaraz here at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic has climbed multiple rungs on the stairway to tennis heaven. But if the Serb has been an unstoppable force in capturing a men’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles, at this late stage he is facing a pair of immovable objects in No. 2 Alcaraz and No. 1 Sinner, ages 22 and 24, respectively.